Thinking about running this game I played way back in my childhood. Was wondering if a certain version has faster load times or anything like that?

Not that I'm aware of, though I've only played one version of the game.

If you're playing on console, a PS2 will get you better loads by enabling the Fast Disc Speed option in the settings. Then newer PS2 models also have better performance, so 79k or 90k are the preferred model #s for speedrunning PS1 games. That said, I don't think this game will see as dramatic of an improvement compared to more resource intensive games.